Cyber Mortality

Chapter 27:

My stomach flips and then my feet touch down on the hardwood floor of the cabin DeNyle and Rocky own on Hallwyn. I may have only been here twice, but it certainly feels like home. A large stone fireplace decorates the north side of the house with photos adorning the walls of places the guys had been. Realms I had never even been to, such as Esunder, the winter realm. Avina, the realm where the planet is half desert and half cold tundra. Rocky said there were dragons there if one looked hard enough, or stumbled into the wrong place. Even Coronia, where the World Market is, was still a mystery to me having only been there a few times. Today would be my first time in the city proper for the opening banquet of the Tournament of Champions.

Rocky materializes in front of me with a scroll in hand.

"Ah, good, at least two of us are on time," he drolls before unrolling the paper. "This is our team entry form. Everyone is assigned a team color, but we pick our name. We got purple this year. Jez will be thrilled..."

"I don't mind purple," I smirk at his dismay. "What were you hoping for? Gray, blue, or black?"

"Red actually," Rocky sighs. "Red won last year."

"Do you think it's lucky?" I inquire. "How did purple do?"

"Last," Rocky groans. "They didn't even make it to the final round."

"I'm heeerrrreee!" DeNyle strolls in with a big grin on his face. "What team are we??" His blue eyes sparkle in anticipation.

"Purple," Rocky mutters.

"Oh," DeNyle nods his head slowly. "Well, we will just have to make do. Just because they took last the previous year doesn't mean we will this year."

"You are such an optimist," Jez chuckles with a shake of her fiery hair. "Well, I for one love the color purple. Especially purple lace." She shoots Rocky a flirtatious smirk.

I want to vomit but I do my best to keep a straight face.

"What will our name be?" DeNyle questions. "Something cool like PowerFist or UltraPower." He says the names in a deep announcer voice.

"I would love something with fire or The Jezebels," Jez proposes.

"What about just Ultra?" I offer up with a shrug.

Everyone mulls that over for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Alright, I'm fine with that," Jez replies.

"Team Ultra it is then," Rocky pencils that in on our sheet. "Shall we?" he holds out his other fist. "We're going to Coronia for the banquet now. Leave anything you're not afraid to lose here and make sure you've got a formal outfit."

I bring up my hand to scroll through my inventory. My lavender gown is there as well as my armor and weapons. Once I am certain I have everything I need I place my fist on Rocky's. His green-gray eyes meet mine and for an instant, my stomach flips, but not because we have just teleported.